Marshall

One of my great great grandmothers was Sarah Marshall, born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire in 1814. This is what I’ve so far found out about my Marshall ancestors.

Francis Marshall born 1690s married to Mary Gibson

The furthest I can get back is to Francis Marshall (also sometimes written as Mershell) who married Mary Gibson. The banns for their marriage are recorded on 18 July 1713 at Abbey Paisley, Renfrewshire and on 13 August 1713 at Glasgow, with a baptism for a son Daniel recorded at Abbey Paisley in 1714 at which time father Francis Marshall was described as a tinker. A tinker was a tinsmith who usually travelled from place to place repairing household items. There is then a gap of 6 years before a series of baptisms of children of Francis Marshall and Mary Gibson at Kilmaurs in Ayrshire.

Of course, it’s possible they are two couples with the same names but … the Francis Marshall who had children baptised in Kilmaurs was a brazier (brass worker). Both a tinker and a brazier made and repaired metal items. There was also an Alexander Marshall who, with his wife Marion, had a daughter named Anna baptised in Paisley a few years after Francis Marshall’s son was born. Francis Marshall and Mary Gibson named three of the children baptised in Kilmaurs Anna, Alexander and Marion so Francis and Alexander Marshall could well have been related. There was also quite a number of people with the surname Marshall being batised and married at Kilbarchan, which is just a few miles to the west of Paisley.

So it looks as if Francis Marshall and Mary Gibson were in Paisley after they married and then moved south and settled, by 1720 at the latest, in Kilmaurs. In times past Kilmaurs had a thriving cutlery making industry, so perhaps this was why Francis Marshall, who worked with metal, went there. There are no recorded births of children for the couple between the 1714 child born in Paisley and a 1720 child born in Kilmaurs, but 6 years is a long gap between children back then so there were may well have been others born during that time whose baptism record has not survived.

As Francis named his eldest son Daniel, there is a strong possibility that Francis’ father was called Daniel. No baptism or marriage for a Daniel Marshall can be found that fits into the right time frame, but then existing records for Scotland dating prior to 1700 are extremely thin on the ground. Interestingly, there is baptism for a Daniel Marshell in Glasgow in 1703 with the father William Marshell and the mother Mary Gibson – the same name as Francis Marshall’s wife. There are quite a few marriages and birth for Marshalls in the Abbey Paisley OPRs going back to the 1670s. The surname Marshall (and spelling variations such as Merchel), however, is common in Scotland prior to 1700. So it’s not possible to know where Francis was born or who his parents were.

There are quite a lot of marriages and births for Gibsons in the Abbey Paisley OPR and also in the Glasgow OPR. Mary or Marie Gibson or Gibsone is, unfortunately, a very common name.

The children of Francis Marshall and Mary Gibson are:

Daniel Marshall b. 1714 at Paisley. There is a marriage in Kilmaurs in August 1740 of Daniel Merchall and Ann Merchall, and another in August 1741 in Kilmaurs to Agnes Clerk. It is possible they are the same Daniel, with a first wife dying shortly after the marriage, or there could be two Daniels with the same name. No children can be found for Daniel and Ann Merchall but Daniel and Agnes Clerk had 3 children baptised at Irvine named Marion, Daniel and Agnes – none of them were named Francis or Mary. Nothing else has been found that looks possible.

Francis b. between 1715 and 1719?. I can’t be sure that Francis and Mary had a child they named Francis, though it is likely. There is a marriage for a Francis Marshall at Kilmaurs in 1747 to Marie Stewart: they had a child baptised at Kilmaurs in 1752 named Margaret. A Francis Marshall also had two children born to Jean Tait and whoe were baptised at Kilmaurs; Francis in 1743 and Robert in 1753. Given the dates this seems to be two different men of the same name. Which one, if any, is a son of Francis and Mary?

It is likely there were other children born between 1714 and 1720 whose baptism went unrecorded.

Robert b. 1720 at Kilmaurs. There are two possible marriages for Robert – to Jean Clerk in 1744 at Kilmaurs and to Elizabeth Marshall (Merchall) in 1748 at Kilmaurs and also at Dalry (meaning the couple were from different parishes). No baptisms of children with Jean Clerk have been found, but a Robert Marshall fathered 3 children in Dalry in 1750, 1762 and 1766, mother not named in the OPR.

Anna b. 1723 at Kilmaurs. She seems to have died in infancy as there was a later daughter named Anna.

William b. 1725 at Kilmaurs. There is marriage in Kilmaurs in 1747 between William Marshall and Janet Muir. They had a first child born in Dalry, then a child born in Kilmaurs, then two more children born in Dalry. Their first and second sons were named Francis, so the first seems to have died. Having an eldest son named Francis is a strong indicator for William being the son of Francis.

Anna b. 1728 at Kilmaurs. There is a marriage in Kilmaurs in 1747 between Ann Marshall and John Marshall, who went on to have 9 children baptised in Kilmaurs, the 4th son being named Francis. So this could be Francis’s daughter or at least a close relative.

Alexander b. 1731 at Kilmaurs. My gggg grandfather (see below).

Marion b. 1734 at Kilmaurs. Although no marriage can be found, Marion Marshall and Robery Dyet had a son Robert baptised in Kilmaurs in 1765 then a daughter Elizabeth at Neilston in Renfrew in 1772. It was likely they had other children but no further baptisms have been found.

James b. 1740 at Kilmaurs. There is a marriage for James Marshall and Margaret Fullerton in Kilmarnock in 1761, but James Marshall is a common name. The Kilmarnock couple had children baptised in Kilmarnock named Ann, William and Margaret.

Alexander Marshall born 1731 married to Agnes Gibson

Alexander Marshall was baptised in Kilmaurs on 6 June 1731. He married Agnes Gibson at Beith: the Beith OPR entry says “November 28 1755 Alexr. Marshal parish Kilmaurs and Agnes Gibson”. Could Agnes Gibson have been related to Alexander’s mother Mary Gibson?

Alexander and Mary had 6 children, all baptised in Kilmaurs. The OPR record for the baptism of their third child Robert says “Alexander Marshall brazier in Kilmarnock and Agnes Gibson both their 1st marriages had their 3rd child born on Tuesday February 10 1761 and baptised Robert on Sabbath February 15 1761 by Mr Leslie.” Very useful detail in that entry. Alexander has followed his father’s occupation, and is also a brass worker.

The children of Alexander Marshall and Agnes Gibson are:

Alexander Marshall born 1757 at Kilmaurs. Little found apart from a marriage at Ayr in 1778 to Jean Bruce, and a baptism of a child named John Marshall in Kilmaurs in 1785 to Alexander Marshall and Janet Stewart.

Francis Marshall born 1759 at Kilmarnock. There is a marriage in February 1792 in Kilmaurs for Francis Marshall and Mary Marshall which took place the day before Francis’s younger brother Robert Marshall married. No baptisms of children for Francis and Mary can be found. Francis would have been 33 by then, so it could have been a second marriage – or he may have just taken his time getting married. There is a birth in Kilmarnock in 1777 for Elizabeth Marshall, with parents Francis Marshall and Mary Taylor. There is a Francis Marshall age 70 in the 1841 census for Kilmaurs, a spine (spindle?) maker, with a wife Ann Marshall who is aged 50 and children aged from 20 to 6, and they married in Kilmaurs in July 1817. So nothing conclusive.

Robert Marshall born 1761 at Kilmarnock. My ggg grandfather – see below.

Agnes Marshall born 1763 at Kilmarnock. There is only one possible marriage for her, in Irvine in 1790 but I’m not convinced it’s the same person.

Mary Marshall born 1768 a Kilmarnock. It’s possible that the 1792 marriage in Kilmarnock between Francis Marshall and Mary Marshall is this Mary, and not her brother, and that she married a cousin. However, it is more likely that Mary is the one who married Henry Gibson in Kilmarnock in 1788: they had 2 children baptised, Alexander in 1788 and Agnes in 1796.

Daniel Marshall born 1771 at Kilmarnock. Nothing conclusive found.

Robert Marshall born 1761 married to Agnes Logan

Robert’s baptism record states his father was a brazier (brass worker). In February 1792, Robert married Agnes Logan, both of Kilmarnock parish. They had 11 children, not all who survived childhood, and the baptism records for some of their children say Robert Marshall was a saddler. Robert Marshall must have died before 1841 as his wife can be found in the 1841 census but not Robert. Agnes lived until she was 93 years old.

The children of Robert Marshall and Agnes Logan, all born in Kilmarnock, are:

Alexander Marshall born 1792. Died in infancy

Alexander Marshall born 1794. Alexander became a saddler and married Christina Wallace in Galston in 1818. They had at least 6 children and can be found in the 1841 census. His wife seems to have died some time afterwards, and in 1851 Alexander Marshall age 53, saddler born in Kilmarnock, is living at North Albion Court in Glasgow with wife Mary and several children. However, I strongly suspect there is a mistake and that “wife” Mary is actually a relative, widow Mary Cuthbertson, and the children are hers not Alexanders. Mary Cuthbertson and the same children can be found at North Albion Court in the 1841 census. In 1861 Alexander was in Leuchars in Fifeshire working as a saddler and living as a boarder, but by 1871 he was living on his own in Harbour Street, Stranraer, close to his eldest son. His son John Wallace Marshall did well in life, becoming a tailor and clothier who employed several others. Alexander Marshall died in January 1877 at age 85, of pneumonia, at Stranraer.

Unnamed male born 1796. Not being named usually means the infant was not expected to live and so he probably died shortly after the baptism.

Agnes Marshall born 1798. There is marriage in Kilmarnock in July 1832 for William Alexander and Agnes Marshall, but nothing further has been found. (They are not the William Alexander cotton hand loom weaver and wife Agnes who are in the 1841 census in Kilmarnock.)

Sarah Marshall born 1800. She died before 1814, when her younger sister also named Sarah was born.

Mary Marshall born 1802.She married Michael Muir in Kilmarnock in June 1823 and they had 5 children baptised in Kilmarnock and Riccarton. They then migrated to Pictou, Nova Scotia at some time between 1838 to 1840, taken there by the Hudson Bay Company. They had further children there. Mary died in Nova Scotia in January 1864 age 59, and afterwards her husband remarried and had more children. He is in the 1871 census of Canada living with his son Robert Marshall, who was a farmer.

James Marshall born 1805. Nothing found for him.

Robert Marshall born 1807. He married Diana Brooks in Kilmarnock in June 1827. Robert was a shoemaker and continued to live in Kilmarnock, where he and Diana had at least 4 children – Agnes, Robert, John and William. Diana died in August 1873, and Robert Marshall died in April 1876 of bronchitis. His daughter Agnes Marshall married Andrew Brown in 1852 – he was a coal miner, they lived in Kilmarnock and had 9 children. Their son Robert Marshall was a tinsmith and then a shoemaker who married Jean Fulton, lived in Kilmarnock and had children, but he died in 1892 at the Glasgow Poorhouse. His son John Marshall was a shoe closer in 1851 and possibly moved to Glasgow, and his son William moved to Govan where he worked as a mechanic.

William Marshall born about 1810. No baptism record found. He may be the William Marshall who married Elizabeth Bowman in Kilmarnock in 1832 and was a shoemaker. If that’s him then he died after 1841 but before 1850, as by 1851 his widow had had an illegitimate daughter and was to subsequently marry the father.

John Marshall born 1811. He married Margaret McGregor in April 1834 in Kilmarnock, and they don’t appear to have had children. His death certificate states he was a calico printer and in the 1851 census his occupation is block printer, but in 1861 and 1871 he is a slater’s labourer. In 1861 they have a 6 year old boarder with them named Alex McGregor, who most probably was a relative of wife Margaret. A John Marshall was a witness at the wedding of my great grandparents John McCrae and Mary McInairney in 1861, and it could well be this John Marshall, Mary McInairney’s uncle. John Marshall was also the informant for the death of his mother Agnes in 1865 in Kilmarnock.

Sarah Marshall born 1814. My gg grandmother – see below.

Sarah Marshall born 1814 married to John McInerney (or whatever his surname was!)

Sarah proved very tricky, in parts, to trace but her life eventually emerged from the records. She was born in Kilmarnock and her OPR baptism entry reads “Sarah 11th child of Robert Marshall saddler and Agnes Logan spouses was born 24th January 1814”.

At some point she met John McInerney or McAnarney but I don’t know where they met, as the second record relating to her is the baptism of her first child Mary Ann Mcaniny (sic) in January 1840 at St Mary’s, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with the father named as John Mcaniny. In July 1842 John McAnainey (sic) and Sarah Marshall had a son named Matthew baptised at Hamilton St Mary’s RC Church. John McAnarney (sic) and Sarah Marshall were married on 23 October 1842 at Airdrie St Margaret’s RC Church, and there is also an entry in the Bothwell OPR for John McInerney (sic) and Sarah Marshall both of the parish of Bothwell. Sarah came from a Protestant family so John must have been Catholic and most probably came from Ireland. Their son William was born in 1845, in Muirkirk according to a later census, but there is an entry in the RC St Joseph’s Kilmarnock records for the baptism in June 1845 of William McIvery to John McIvery and Sarah Martin, which I suspect might be the same William. Their youngest child John was born in about 1848 but no baptism has been found.

John McAnarney must have died at around the same time as son John was born, as in 1851 Sarah is a widow and pauper hand sewer living in Low Church Lane, Kilmarnock with her 4 children. In 1861 she is at 19 Fore Street, Kilmarnock living with her mother Agnes Marshall, who was in her 90s and bed ridden, the 4 children she had had with John, plus 2 further daughters who were both illegitimate. Sarah worked as a flowerer, which is someone who embroiders flowers onto muslin, and most likely worked at home being paid on piece rates. 1871 sees her in Back Street, Kilmarnock still working as a hand sewer and living with her youngest daughter and a 4 year old relative Robert Marshall, described as nephew. In 1881 she is at High Street, Kilmarnock still a hand sewer with 14 year old Robert Marshall who this time is described as a grandson, an orphan named Elizabeth Ingles, and a coal miner lodger.

Sarah died in 1891, just before the census was taken, at High Street, Kilmarnock age 77 of cancer of the gullet, and the informant for her death was her eldest daughter and my great grandmother Mary Ann McCrae.

The children of Sarah Marshall are:

Mary Ann McArnarney or McInerney born 1840in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Mary Ann was my great grandmother, and married coal miner John McCrae in Kilmarnock in 1861. She and John McCrae had 9 children and lived in Kilmarnock. She died in 1912. Details of her married life and her children can be found on the McCrae page.

Matthew McArnarney or McInerney born 1842 in Belshill. At age 19 Matthew was living with his mother and siblings in Kilmarnock, working as a boot closer. Sadly that’s all I know as I’ve found no trace of him in the records after that.

William McArnarney or McInerney born about 1845 in Muirkirk. At age 16 he also was with his mother and siblings, working as a boot closer. He then disappears from the records but makes a reappearance in 1899, when he died. His death certificate says he was William Marshall McInerney, an unmarried shoemaker who died at the Kyle Union Poorhouse, usual domicile Muirkirk (although that might have the governor of the poorhouse mistaking his given birthplace for his usual residence). Cause of death was multiple neuritis, which may have been caused by excessive use of alcohol.

Sarah McKinnon born about 1853 in Kilmarnock. Sarah was the illegitimate daughter of Charles McKinnon, who was for whatever reason named Alexander on one of her marriage certificates. She married coal miner William Dumigan in Kilmarnock in 1871, who was connected to John McCrae who had married Sarah’s half sister. Sarah and William had 3 children named Hugh, Ellen and William. William Dumigan died in 1875. In 1879 Sarah gave birth to an illegitimate daughter registered as Sarah McGee, and in 1880 she married the father, railway labourer William McGee. They went on to have 3 more children named James, Maggie and Mary. Sarah died in Kilmarnock in 1917 of carcinoma of the stomach.

Ellen Marshall (also Helen) born 1858. Ellen was also illegitimate, her father having the surname McDonald. She was with her mother in 1861 and 1871, and by age 13 was earning a living as a bonnet knitter. In 1877 she married iron dresser Hamilton Kirkwood, and on her marriage certificate her father is listed as Matthew Marshall. That is a mistake, but it might indicate that her mother’s brother Matthew was around. In 1881 Helen Kirkwood is living in Hurlford with young daughter Mary and a visitor (Elizabeth Inglis age 6, who is also listed at Sarah Marshall’s address in the same census but age 3). Ellen’s husband Hamilton Kirkwood spent census night as a prisoner at Hurlford Constabulary Station! In 1891 the family are in Kilmarnock with several more children, but at some point after 1897 they moved to Partick, near Govan, and in 1911 were living in Whiteinch, also near Govan. Ellen (or Helen) and Hamilton Kirkwood had 10 children. Helen died a widow in 1933 age 76 at Whiteinch, of cerebral haemorrhage. The informant was her unmarried daughter Sarah who said that Helen was the daughter of Matthew Marshall shoemaker and Sarah Marshall nee Logan, so she was obviously confused about her mother’s parentage. Perhaps she got that information from her mother’s marriage certificate.

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4 responses to “Marshall”

I’m another Judy. Yes, another one!
I’m descended from William Marshall born 1769 at Kilmaurs who was also a tinker (tinkler) and who settled in Wigtownshire. He was my gggggrandfather. He married Elizabeth Gibson in Ayrshire. One of his sons,Alexander Marshall married a Jean (Jane) Caldwell Marshall, daughter of a John Marshall. All originated from Kilmaurs.

You have done extremely well researching the Marshalls/Mershalls/Merchals. I’m afraid they beat me but some of your names have cropped up when I was researching Jean Caldwell Marshall.

Fascinating indeed – and sorry for taking such a long time to reply. The Marshalls are a very confusing lot. Your William Marshall, being a tinker, was probably related to my Marshalls but working out how is the problem!

Hi Judy, I have a Cousin named Judy. I am Elvin Marshall and have traced my Ancestry back to one John Marshall b. 1569 in Southwark, Surrey, Eng.
Married Elizabeth Marshall (1 Child). My grandfather resided in Weymouth,
N.S. Canada and another ancestor, Anthony James Marshall founded
Marshalltown, N.S. adjoining Weymouth (b.1738 …m. Rachel Morse….
7 children. Funny, I reside in Weymouth. MA. since 1973. My Mother is
from Pugwash N.S. just below P.E.I. My Verizon ID Picture is of Pembroke
Castle, with the caption …1st Earl of Pembroke, the greatest Knight of Eng.
William Marshal, whose effigy lies in the Church in London. Great stuff…..
hope you get this…my e-mail is … microrep1@verizon.net, Best wishes
Elvin (Al) Marshall USN Retired.

Love the information you have here. I am descended from Hugh Marshall and Helen Muir. Hugh is possibly the son of John Marshall and Ann Marshall born 1761.
The Kilmaurs Marshalls creep up in 2 or 3 lines of my family.

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